Dual in-line packages are widely used to package integrated circuits, various other electronic devices and combinations thereof. As the volume of usage has increased over the years, so have the number of package types produced. For example, these are plastic, ceramic, "Cerdip" and side-brazed packages, to name a few. Also, the package length varies from as few as four leads to as many as 64 and above per package. The width of the package typically varies between 3/10ths and 6/10ths of an inch. The most standard parameter is that of the lead spacing on each side of the package which has been fairly consistently held to 0.100 inches center-to-center.
Increasingly, there have been efforts to automate the operations involved with these dual in-line packages. For example, the initial testing and screening of the packages, and the insertion of the packages into printed circuit boards through the use of automatic insertion equipment. However, variations in the different package types, as described above, and the fact that individual packages in any given lot will suffer from physical deformities, hamper the manufacturer and the user from maximizing the effectiveness of this automatic handling equipment. For example, individual packages may be malformed or have bent leads which cause the automatic handling equipment to jam.
Previous solutions to these problems have included visual inspection and correction of deformities by the operator. Other solutions have included designing passageways of the handling apparatus with looser tolerances or more forgiving mechanisms. A great deal of effort has been directed towards the design of apparatus for handling the devices, for screening devices to detect anomalies in package dimensions and bent leads, and for preforming the leads of the devices to the required tolerances before they are placed in subsequent handling equipment. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,757 issued to Claude M. Boissicat on Apr. 17, 1973 and entitled "DIP Handling Apparatus".
These prior art devices have typically been limited to a single package width and the mechanism would therefore be replaced for each width, e.g., 0.300 inch, 0.400 inch, 0.600 inch, etc. This is an inherent disadvantage in the increased cost and low utilization of capital equipment for the manufacturer or user who uses a wide variety of package types. Many of these devices jam or otherwise become inoperative from the very problems for which they are screening and therefore they are not effective outside a fairly small range of package deformities. Also, some prior art lead straighteners and screening equipment have involved techniques such as forcing the package through a forming structure or otherwise stressing the package to force the leads to the desired dimensions. This kind of physical stressing of the package may actually create worse problems than it solves because this physical stressing of the package may destroy the physical integrity of the package, resulting in such undesirable features as a loss of hermiticity.